On September 4, 1888, George Eastman received U.S. Patent No. 388,850 for a camera shutter that was part of the first successful roll-film hand camera:

Eastman started out experimenting to create a flexible film roll that could replace plates altogether. In 1885, he received two patents for a film roll U.S. Patent No. 306,470 “Photographic Film”, issued October 14, 1884, and U.S. Patent No. 306,594 “Photographic Film”, also issued October 14, 1884. He then focused on making a holder for these film rolls, for which he received U.S. Patent No. 317,049 for “Roll Holder for Photographic Films”, issued May 1885. Finally, he focused on a camera to use the his film, which resulted in the patent he received 136 years ago today. His camera was sold loaded with enough roll film for 100 exposures. When all the exposures had been used, the photographer mailed the camera back to the Eastman company in Rochester, along with $10. The company would process the film, make a print of each exposure, load another roll of film into the camera, and send the camera and the prints to the photographer. Eastman thus made photography available to everyone, coining the slogan: “you press the button, we do the rest.”

On September 4, 1888. He also received U.S. Reg. No. 15,825 on the trademark KODAK Eastman explained: “I devised the name myself. The letter ‘K’ had been a favorite with me — it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter. It became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made words starting and ending with ‘K.’ The word ‘Kodak’ is the result.”

Eastman continued to improve photography during his lifetime, and was extremely generous with his fortune, Wracked with pain from a spinal condition, he committed suicide on March 14, 1932, leaving a note: “To my friends, my work is done – Why wait? GE.” For many years after his technology let us record our lives. Now almost completely supplanted by digital photography, and in particular the cell phones with cameras, one wonders what he and Alexander Graham Bell would think of what became of their inventions. Although both inventions have been supplanted by later technologies, theirs were crucial stepping stones in the path of technology, and leading the way for others to follow.